​"Who are you calling old, you bastards?!" Alvin scoffed. "Do you think you can take me on alone?"

​"Dennis, this is a bad idea. He will kill you! You are not thinking straight," David warned, a deep frown creasing his face.

​"Yes, brother, you have to think straight! You will get hurt. He is a First-Stage Aura User, after all. They say he has stayed in the first stage his whole life, so he has a lot of battle experience. He might even be close to the second stage," Dion cried, pleading with Dennis not to throw his life away.

​"David, that’s your problem. You overthink things. Sometimes you just have to face your problems head-on," Dennis argued stubbornly. "Maybe if he hurts me, the Madam will finally take notice of the problem here and deal with these thugs. Please, just take care of Dion for me if anything happens."

​"So that’s your big plan? Suicide?!" Dion yelled, her expression twisting with raw anger. "I will not accept it! Even if it benefits us in the long run, I refuse to let you abandon me like those bastard parents who sold us!"

​Dennis was shocked beyond words. This was only the second time he had ever seen his little sister this angry. The first time was the day they realized they had been sold to slave traders, when she had fiercely vowed to make their parents regret their decision.

​"Ugh, you kids are wasting my time. Some of us have plans after this," Alvin sneered, clearly bored. "If you are so scared he will die alone, you can all join him. I don’t care either way," he added with a cruel smirk.

​"Fine. We will fight together," David declared.

​"No, you guys, it’s better if—" Dennis started, but before he could finish, Dion glared daggers at him.

​"Better what? Better that you get hurt alone? I don’t ever want to hear that kind of talk from you again. You are no hero!"

​Hearing Dion’s harsh words, Dennis didn’t retort. He only looked down in shame, realizing she was right. He had just been trying to play the hero.

​"Ah, I forgot to add one rule," Alvin said. The kids frowned, bracing themselves. "Don’t worry, it’s nothing much. Since you are all ganging up on me, why don’t we use real, worn-out iron swords instead of wooden ones? It will increase the entertainment value."

​"Yeah, that’s what we’re talking about, Alvin!" one of the guards yelled from the benches. "Now this is entertaining!"

​"Let’s make our bets, folks! How many do you think will survive this fight?! Place your bets!" another guard shouted, pulling out a heavy pouch of coins.

​"Hahaha! That’s what I like to hear! I bet ten silver coins that none of them survives!"

​"I also bet none will live!"

​"I bet at least one survives! Hahaha!"

​The guards eagerly threw their money down, laughing loudly as the sacred training ground rapidly turned into a sickening gambling den.

​Alvin smirked as he heard the bets piling up.

​So, that was your plan all along, David realized, watching Alvin’s greedy smile. You incited us to fight so you could make quick money. The one taking the bets is the guy he was just drinking with! We fell right into a trap. This bastard is planning to get rich off our deaths!

​David turned to the two boys who had remained completely silent the whole time.

​"Ivory, Sam... I’m sorry you got dragged into this. If you want to leave, you can. I won’t force you to fight," David offered softly.

​"No problem, David. We will join you. If we die fighting this bastard, we die. That’s it," Ivory said firmly.

​"Yeah, Ivory is right. If it weren’t for you guys, we wouldn’t have even survived those slave traders," Sam agreed, picking up a rusted blade.

​"Thank you, guys," David said with a soft smile of pure gratitude.

​The five of them gripped their worn-out iron swords and stepped onto the raised fighting platform. Alvin was already waiting for them in the center. Moving cautiously as a unit, the kids slowly surrounded him.

​"Surrounding me, huh? Let’s see if it actually works," Alvin sneered, openly looking down on them.

​"Begin!" a senior Second-Stage Aura guard shouted from the sidelines.

​The moment the word left his mouth, Dennis dashed from his blind spot directly behind Alvin. Just as Dennis raised his sword to strike, a heavy boot suddenly appeared right in front of his face. Without a single second to react, Alvin kicked Dennis brutally in the gut, sending him flying backward to crash heavily onto the dirt.

​"Attack together! At the same time!" David shouted in panic after seeing Dennis fall.

​The remaining four rushed from all directions toward Alvin.

​"Heh, I won’t let you," Alvin mocked.

​Just as Dion’s sword swung at his back and David’s sword chopped at his front, Alvin effortlessly sidestepped. He instantly dashed toward the person furthest away: Ivory. Because Alvin had vanished so quickly, David and Dion couldn’t stop their forward momentum. Their rusted swords violently clashed against each other in the empty air where Alvin had just been standing.

​Because this was their first time actually fighting a life-or-death battle together, their teamwork was terrible. Alvin appeared in front of Ivory and casually swung his blade. The heavy impact sent Ivory flying backward, crashing painfully into Dennis, who was just trying to get back on his feet.

​"Dammit! Alvin, don’t go easy on them! I bet on all of them dying!" one of the guards shouted angrily.

​The spectating guards threw out harsh insults, actively cheering for the kids’ deaths and whistling as if they were watching a fun theater play.

​"Haaaaa! Die, you bastard!" Sam screamed, rushing desperately toward Alvin to protect his fallen friends.

​"Sigh... from this first exchange, I can tell that you guys are trash. I thought you kids could give me at least some enjoyment, but I guess I was wrong," Alvin muttered, finally shifting into a serious, grounded stance.

​The very next second, a dense, dark red aura violently erupted and wrapped entirely around Alvin’s blade.

​"No, Sam! Don’t go any closer, he—" David tried to scream.

​But before the words could leave his mouth, Alvin slashed his glowing red sword horizontally. When Sam saw the blade coated in a terrifying aura, he instinctively raised his rusted iron sword to block. But every instinct in his body screamed that he was going to die.

​The moment Alvin’s aura-coated blade touched Sam’s weapon, the rusted iron shattered like glass. The next thing Sam knew, his vision was spinning wildly, completely detached from his body, and he only saw darkness after that.

​A heavy, dead silence fell over the arena. A bloody mess painted the stone platform. However, only the surviving orphans were frozen in absolute shock and horror. The spectating guards showed no sign of wavering at all. In fact, they looked completely unbothered, as if seeing a child beheaded was an everyday occurrence.

​"SAM! NOOOOO!" David screamed, tears pouring down his face as he dropped to his knees.

​"I’M GONNA KILL YOU, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Dennis roared, pure, blind anger taking over his mind as he scrambled to his feet.

​"Come, if you can," Alvin said with a cold, uncaring expression, flicking the blood off his aura blade.

​"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE?!" a furious voice boomed from the entrance of the training ground.

​Ian had finally arrived.